mid-week links – SOPA/PIPA edition

As you might have heard or noticed, today is the SOPA Blackout day. You might ask, why the hell do you care about a law of the US Congress? Well, it won’t just stay there. Others will follow. Many other countries are very keen on having an internet shutdown button and internet police.

My problem? What the American movie industry and other industries call piracy is actually just people downloading things for their own use. Piracy, when the term was first put together, was for people who make digital copies and sell these as cheaper options. Now, the movie and music industries call you a pirate if you download one thing to watch on your own. They resist any kind of change that new streaming technologies could bring, they resist “legal” digital options, they want their way. And they lobby for it. So much so that the SOPA bill would seriously damage online freedom.

Update Clay Shirky talked today on TED offices about SOPA and it is a must-watch.